Pistorius trial

[lazzikins!]

The messages today were pretty damning, I thought. The prosecution have built up a good case, in my totally amateur opinion.

[smalex]

I thought that too Lazz. I expect to be entirely convinced of his innocence once the defence start up though :easily swayed:

[lazzikins!]

Naw, stay strong, smalex. I think the various witness testimony about screaming, the way the bullets hit her and the fact that she even wrote that she was scared of him is enough. I wonder if there are text messages from the night to add to the evidence tomorrow?

[rosy]

I thought that him forgetting his phone password was pretty damning, too.

[smalex]

I god yes Rosy, I forgot that. I did think that very damning.

[Lily]

For me the fact that he lied about having his legs on (when ballistics show he didn't), and when they'd eaten, suggesting they'd been in bed for a long time, has totally swayed my opinion. I was convinced he'd done it by mistake. I mean I'm pretty sure he didn't do it in cold blood, but I'm also pretty sure he didn't mistake her for a burglar.

[Savannah]

The messages today were pretty damning, I thought. The prosecution have built up a good case, in my totally amateur opinion.

After hearing about the text messages yesterday, I've changed my opinion - I think he's guilty.

:(

[Dáire]

The way the bullets hit her fits both stories. He fired through a door in both versions, it's a small room, one shot missed. She was standing because she'd finished on the loo and stood up (autopsy confirmed bladder empty.)

The undigested food in the stomach, though, that's an anomaly. Although both accounts say he shot without the legs, the defence say he put them on to use the bat on the door. That doesn't really aid the defence at all - having them off fits their account far better. The idea that upon the realisation of his mistake he went off to put the legs on, as it would be easier to break down the door from a height, is far from their account of a desperate, traumatised man who claims to have been in no fit state to formulate plans (I'll break the door down with that bat, which I cannot swing well at this height) and fasten on prosthetics.

*edit: he put them on to try and kick the door down. There are shoe marks on the door as well.

I'm not swayed by the texts, though. Having a tiff over "stop getting pissy when I talk to/about men" is pretty common, isn't it? I'm sure a lot of people's texts/emails in the middle of even a small argument can look pretty damning if one of you suddenly ends up dead in suspicious circumstances. Out of 1700 messages, only 4 were of this disagreement.

[nick]

He ought to be in jail by now.

[Lily]

Those texts, having read them, remind me of my friend and her ex boyfriend who was VERY controlling and bullying.

[smalex]

I don't think texts on their own prove anything, but as part of a case of evidence, they could be crucial.

[Karkadan]

The bit about her voice/accent got to me, as that's what Mr. Ex used to say to me. It does make me think worse of him, but we still haven't heard everything.

[Dáire]

The security guard's wrong. Phone records show Pistorius called the estate manager, then an ambulance at 3.20am, then security at 3.21am. He also rang his own voicemail at 3.21am, but the call was disconnected as he'd done it by mistake ('the buttons are close together' - lawyer) The call to security only lasted 9 seconds - defence claims he was too distraught to speak - and as the call ended, security called him back at 3.22am where he explained what had happened. There is no evidence the guard rang Pistorius and was told 'everything is fine'.

The prosecution wanted to allege he was browsing on his phone an hour before she died, instead of being asleep, but the only evidence they have for that is the phone making connections, which it would do it if it was switched on and an app was running, ie: email or updates.

The problem is the witnesses are useless; they're either outright lying/dimwitted attention seekers ("I heard it all from a mile away! It sounded like lots of murders, but I just made some jokes about it and went to bed. I called my lawyer when I heard a celeb was involved!") or mistaken (phone records don't corroborate), which is probably just human nature after having had the event dominating their lives for a year. There's not been one convincing one yet with some hard evidence backing up what they say. If he's guilty, he's going to get off because the witness evidence is bordering on inadmissible. The prosecution don't seem to have any hard, irrefutable evidence at all.

[Tabitha]

The bit about her voice/accent got to me, as that's what Mr. Ex used to say to me.

What did he say about her voice?

[Karkadan]

I can't remember, but on the news last night one of her texts said something about him complaining about he didn't like her accent or the way she said stuff.

[smalex]

Even if he's entirely innocent, hes really quite an unpleasant person isn't he.

[Disco]

You can tell he's horrible by his vile mouth, teeth and lips combo.

[Topcat]

:lol:

[Texaco Shirley]

He has attempted to divert suspicion by keeping his hair short though

[Tabitha]

I think he's very handsome, that's why I can't make my mind up. He is tight-lipped though, Disco is correct.